A good friend of mine has an 1100 (since the 1970s) that he uses for dove, duck, deer,and turkey hunting. It has a full choke and I talked him into getting a spare barrel for it because it does not throw a dense enough pattern for turkey hunting compared to what a modern screw-in choke barrel can do. (He lost a good bird this week and it took that for him to finally listen to reason)

My question is; Is any supplier one better than another for getting Remington barrels, or are Remington barrels common enough that one place is as good as another? I own an 870 that my Grandfather left me, and that is probably the only Remington I will ever own. Thanks for any information and opinions.

That gun has been around for so long, you should be able to find barrels pretty easily. I would just look for a good price. If it's used, I'd ask for a right to inspect it or have a gunsmith inspect it.

You may want to call some gun stores in your area and see if they have any barrels on hand. Mann & Son (Since 1945) is an authorized Remington repair station in this area and usually has a pretty good selection of barrels. You can reach them at 618.357.2911.

You can also check the Remington site for other authorized repair stations and check with them. They are always a good source of parts and informtaion.

Hope that helps.

Thanks,
Clark

"If he's out of range, it just means that he has another day and so do you."

Yes, Since Remingtons went to stamped parts (most shotgun manufacturers have these days to save on production costs) their quality has suffered because of it. I had horrible experiences with 1100s jamming while duck hunting back in the 1970's and will never own another (I also had the same trouble with a Winchester 1400 and won't have one of those either).

I switched to double barrels, single shots, and pumps for hunting because they would not let me down. Four years ago I bought a Benelli SBE for Turkey hunting that has never mis-fired. Any shell I feed into the magazine will fire regardless if it is 2 3/4 field loads or 3 1/2 shells, one right after the other, will fire. That SBE will shoot in all weather conditions hot, cold, rain, snow, salt spray, whatever, it doesn't matter. The others I have tried would not do that.

I also was a licensed gunsmith for years, so I know how to polish rails and sweeten up actions to get them to perform better than a factory firearm does out of the box.

I'm sure there are plenty of Remington guys out there who will freak out and scream bloody murder when they read this, but I can only go by what happened to me. To take the time and expense of going on a long hunting trip and have your 1100 basically turn into a single shot ( I had to work the action after every shot because it would not eject spent magnum shells) broke me of ever taking one hunting with me again.

I've got something that works now, I'm sticking with it.

Recall that what started this thread was me looking for a barrel for a good friend of mine to improve his 1100 for Turkey hunting. His fires every time. Guns are like cars, you can't tell by looking if yours is a lemon.